Prudence Robertson ’19 has been unabashedly pro-life for as long as she can remember.
Born and raised in Montgomery County, Maryland, a state that allows abortion up to the time of birth, she was already praying in front of abortion clinics as a middle-school student. But she said it was her time at Franciscan University that affirmed her position and equipped her to work in the pro-life movement.
A former communications associate for SBA Pro-Life America, Robertson currently serves as anchor of EWTN Pro-Life Weekly. Based in Washington on Capitol Hill, she is part of a cadre of strong conservative reporters who are working to report the truth from the nation’s capital.
“The years I went to Franciscan were so formative and important in terms of getting me to where I am today and inspiring me to do the work I’m doing,” she says. “In a world where there are so many attacks on the family and against unborn children, it can be very daunting. People are being formed at Franciscan to go into that world and to stand for what’s right and what’s true.”
Upon arriving at Franciscan, where she transferred as a junior, Robertson decided to major in philosophy because she thought it would be helpful for working in politics. But she later switched to history, adding a minor in human life studies, which she says helped her apply the historical moment to the fight for life. “It aligned my passion and desire to work in politics with my love of history and helped me learn that history certainly does repeat itself, and we can learn so many lessons about where we are today culturally by studying history.”
After her junior year, Robertson did an internship at SBA ProLife America that led to a job with the organization after graduation. She worked at SBA until early in 2022 when she was asked to take her current job.
She sees her role at EWTN as reporting on abortion from a moral perspective and on what the Church says about it, rather than as a controversial political question. “[Abortion is] not a question,” she says “It’s the ending of a life.”
Prudence Robertson received the 2023 Outstanding Young Alumni Award for her exceptional work on behalf of women and babies.
Judy Roberts writes from Graytown, Ohio
